TMPA FAQ

Does TMPA only accept municipal police officers as members?

Do I need to be a member of my local association to join TMPA?

Is my membership information confidential?

How do I join TMPA?

When does my membership with TMPA begin?

Does legal assistance have a waiting period?

What are the financial limits of the legal plan?

Does TMPA pay for other legal expenses?

If I need a lawyer, how does the bill get paid?

Why don't you employ staff attorneys?

What are my payment options?

Why do we have a Political Action Committee?

Where does the money for the TMPA PAC come from?

Does TMPA only accept municipal police officers as members?

No. While TMPA was founded by municipal police officers in 1950, membership in TMPA has grown to include all Texas peace officers. Anyone in a law enforcement related career is also welcome to affiliate with TMPA, enjoying all of our membership benefits.

Do I need to be a member of my local association to join TMPA?

No. TMPA is comprised of individual members, not affiliated associations, however TMPA believes that unity is important and recommends membership in local associations. While many associations are affiliated with TMPA, membership in your local association is not a prerequisite to membership in TMPA. The number of members we have from one department to another may vary from the majority of its officers to a single employee. Each member is important to us, regardless of whether we have all the members in your department or only one. However, we do discriminate when there are two or more affiliated locals in a single agency. Our by-laws only recognize the local with the majority of members affiliated with TMPA for the purpose of delegate voting for the board of directors. We do not allow splinter groups at the local level to dilute the voting strength of an affiliated local association

Is my membership information confidential?

Yes. Your membership with TMPA is strictly confidential. We do not release our mailing lists to solicitors nor do departments have access to our membership records.

How do I join TMPA?

Simply fill out the online form and pay your dues online by credit card. Dues amounts are listed on the application. Your membership with TMPA begins as soon as you have joined.

When does my membership with TMPA begin?

Your membership with TMPA begins the day it is received in our State Office with payment or by the date received if sent by fax, online, or given by phone.

Does legal defense plan have a waiting period?

Not for covered civil or criminal events. There is a waiting period for certain administrative actions. See the Legal Defense Plan for more details. The plan does not cover any incident that occurred before we receive your application with payment.

What are the financial limits of the legal plan?

There are no limits on covered events. The TMPA legal plan covers your legal expenses throughout trial or administrative appeal with no caps and no deductibles. Other organizations put a cap on administrative coverage or limit attorneys fees, not TMPA. If someone tells you their plan is just like TMPA, don't believe them. Ask for a copy and read the fine print.

Does TMPA pay for other legal expenses?

Yes. Psychological testing, polygraph examination, expert witness fees, and even private investigative work are covered in the plan if the expenses are deemed necessary to defend a member. No other plan comes close to covering the scope of expenses offered in the legal plan.

If I need a lawyer, who do I call?

Just call TMPA at 1-800-848-2088, which is answered 24 hours a day. If you have been involved in a critical incident, we will have a lawyer respond to the scene immediately. If you have a consultation question or need an attorney on a non-emergency incident, you can just call the toll-free number and we will give you a tracking number to provide the attorney. The attorney will bill TMPA directly and you will never have to deal with claim forms or reimbursements.

Why don't you employ staff attorneys?

The best way to answer this question is to provide an analogy. Let's say you are sick and you have a serious heart condition; would you rather choose your doctor, or are you content with a staff physician? Most people would rather choose. Our legal defense plan provides you with the freedom to choose your attorney to handle your particular needs. It is more cost effective to hire attorneys to work on specific cases rather than employ attorneys and pay them whether they are working or not.

Most of the attorneys who work for TMPA charge much higher hourly to their other clients. They reduce their rates for TMPA because they enjoy representing peace officers.. Additionally, these attorneys see increasing business from contingency cases as a result of their association with our members. It is a win-win relationship and our members benefit with access to top quality private-practice attorneys from some of the most prestigious law firms in the state.

What are my payment options?

You may pay in installments of six months or one year if paying by check, credit card, on-line, or money order. You may pay on a monthly basis by either bank draft, credit card or payroll deduction (if offered by your department). Following are brief explanations of each of these payment options: Check, Credit Card (through on-line application) or Money Order

Check or Money Order - Include payment by check or money order with your completed membership application or simply go to our on-line application and complete the requested information.

Cred it Card - If paying by credit card, please complete all of the credit card information on the membership application or on-line application. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover are accepted and you have the choice to have monthly recurring billing or pay 6 to 12 months in advance.

You will receive a renewal notice 30 days before your membership dues payment is again due if you do not choose recurring billing payment methods.

Bank Draft - The draft of your membership dues and POLDF premium is taken from your bank account automatically on the 15th of each month. To initiate a bank draft please send the State Office:

a check marked "void" from the account you would like to have drafted;

a check for your first month membership dues with legal;

your completed membership application.

Payroll deduction policies and availability vary considerably.

You must first contact your employer's payroll department to find out if payroll deduction is an option available to you.

If available, please arrange for your monthly dues to be deducted by the department. Be sure to provide your application to the State Office. The TMPA State Office cannot initiate deductions from your pay check.

Please be certain to mail your completed application to the TMPA State Office. Otherwise, we may not know of your membership and without your address we will be unable to mail you important membership information.

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Why do we have a Political Action Committee?

Our Political Action Committee uses your political contributions to support candidates for statewide election that have demonstrated an understanding of the needs of Texas law enforcement and desire to support the men and women behind the badge. Your PAC dollars help ensure the right people hold political office.

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Where does the money for the TMPA PAC come from?

The money for the TMPA PAC comes from the voluntary contributions that members authorize when they join or renew their membership to TMPA. The money raised is in addition to dues and legal defense contributions and revenue for the fund depends on these voluntary contributions. If you are a member of TMPA and would like to contribute to our PAC fund, just call the state office at 800-848-2088. Or email us at membership@tmpa.org.

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